He may (or may not) have brought about the world’s first genetically modified human babies using CRISPR-Cas9, but He Jiankui’s shoes are probably not the most comfortable in the world right now.

According to reports from Chinese media, the geneticist’s whereabouts are currently unknown.

It’s been reported that he is under house arrest at the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, China, the institution that employs him, and from which he has been on leave since February.

Among the reasons for this: first, we don’t know the long-term risks. Second, He edited something completely unnecessary. Third, it was a germline edit – meaning it will be passed down to those babies’ offspring. Fourth, he did all this without any transparency. Fifth, this will absolutely shake the public’s trust in the future use of CRISPR-Cas9.

According to Chinese news agency Xinhua, Chinese authorities have denounced the experiment as “extremely abominable in nature” and a violation of Chinese laws, via vice minister of science and technology Xu Nanping.

The Southern University of Science and Technology released a statement distancing itself from He’s work, saying it “seriously violates academic ethics and academic norms.”

The Chinese science union has also condemned the research, announcing that it “resolutely opposes so-called scientific researches and biotech applications that violate the spirit of science and ethics.”